Only a mother can love such an ugly little face.

Gotcha! Could this have been the cause of Telkom's ADSL network 36-hour total shut down in the Outer West Area of Durban on 27&28 September 2007?

Prime Spot? - mmm only a female monkey would agree!

MONKEY BUSINESS @ SANDLEA

- Saturday, 29 September 2007

Arriving at our complex's main gate after gym this morning we were greeted by the monkeys who were out in full force with spring fever running high amongst two local clans. There was a lot of vocals (sounding like dogs barking) as each clan attempted to defend its own patch in paradise. It seemed as if the males were very protective of the females who all had new borns clinging onto them. The juveniles were frolicking and fooling around on the outskirts, oblivious of the delicate situation.

On the home front, there are still potential buyers visiting on a daily basis. It was our 7th show house this Sunday with Sotheby's as the hosting agents. There was only one couple who came house hunting on this wet Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately it was outside their price bracket. Sotheby's brochure however did not do the house justice. The details of the house was very brief, incomplete and uninteresting. The photo on the brochure also don't intrigue potential buyers to come and have a look for themselves - 50% winter lawn?. (compare Acutts' brochure of the previous Sunday below).

Well Conroy was at home once again for a brief visit this weekend and left Sunday afternoon for Johannesburg.

On the scrapping front I designed and completed another double page layout kit 'PRECIOUS' which is available on Doing Life's Online Shoppe. Go and have a peek quickly.

Off to another week at work - can't believe October 2007 has crept up on us so soon.

- Monkey Business Signing Off

6th Show House in Succession - Sunday, 23 September 2007

Our home has been on show the 6th Sunday in succession and yet no offers. They say patience is a virtue, well .....

Trish from Acutts showed our home for the first time this Sunday and surprisingly she had quite a good turnout as far as home hunters are concerned. Eight couples paid a visit to Sandlea and quite a few of them were very interested. So hold thumbs that those offers will start rolling in soon.

We were quite impressed with Acutts' brochure on our home. We must commend Acutts on their professional, detailed and well designed brochure, which I am sure you will agree reflects our home at its best.

Whilst our home was showing, Conroy and yours truly made our way to Gateway for a late breakfast/lunch at Exclusive Books' coffee shop i.e. Fego's. As usual their hearty Bacon/Cheese/Avocado Burger went down well. Afterwards we went to the movies and saw 'NO RESERVATIONS'. A delightfully uplifting and tasteful movie with lots of light heartedness. Make sure you don't miss this movie which, as an added bonus, has not got one swear word! - very hard to come by in our modern era of movies.

No Reservations: "Life isn't always made to order.Master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) lives her life like she runs her kitchen at a trendy Manhattan eatery – with a no-nonsense intensity that both captivates and intimidates everyone around her. Kate's perfectionist nature is put to the test when she "inherits" her nine-year-old niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin), while contending with a brash new sous-chef who joins her staff. High-spirited and freewheeling, Nick Palmer (Aaron Eckhart) couldn't be more different from Kate, yet the chemistry between them is undeniable. Rivalry becomes romance, but Kate will have to learn to express herself beyond the realm of her kitchen if she wants to connect with Zoe and find true happiness with Nick."

For you scrappers who wondered whether I got to any scrapping with Conroy being home during the long weekend ... yes I did get to scrap two new layouts. One of them being one of the layouts I will be presenting at my Makaranga scrap day in January 2008 and the other a new double page layout in kit form which will be launched on Doing Life's Shoppe during the course of this week - so keep your scrappers eyes peeled.

- Signing off from a cold and wet Kloof

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - Friday, 21 September 2007

September 2007

I came home this late Friday spring afternoon to be greeted by this beautiful flower exhibit. When Irises flower it is believed that rain is on its way. Judging these flowering glories, there is a monsoon making its way to Kloof, Durban.

I must say that this exhibit will be hard to equal anywhere and I will definitely have fond memories of our Kloof home, when I page through my scrapbooking album and reminisce over my layouts (yes, there is another layout focusing on irises coming up) reflecting the beauty of the humble iris.

September 2006

March 2005

Our Kloof home has now been on the market for 5 weeks and has been showing for 5 Sundays in a row. No offer has yet been made and we are still awaiting the fortunate buyer to come along. Wakefields had sole mandate from 13 August to 12 September during which period there has hardly been more than a handful of potential buyers visiting our home. We have changed the mandate to a 4-way mandate from 13 September and there have been more potential buyers viewing the house during the past week than during the first four weeks under Wakefields' sole mandate. The four-way mandate includes Wakefields, Acutts, Pam Golding and Sothebys.

Our 6th show house is scheduled for this Sunday and is hosted by Acutts. Fortunately Conroy is home this long weekend and at least we can do something together Sunday afternoon when the house is showing. This past week has also been the sixth week I have been alone at home during the week and I am still not use to it, probably will never be.

Some of you have probably noticed that Tha Teacha has recently become a Creative Memories Consultant. A few of you have already purchased very useful Creative Memories scrapping tools and supplies from Tha Teacha - hope you are enjoying your goodies. So when you next visit the Blue Room, don't hesitate to ask Tha Teacha about the Creative Memories scrapping goodies - there are definitely some must haves.

Off to hopefully a creative weekend scrapping wise. Wishing all you South Africans a happy looooong weekend and a restful Heritage day on 24 September.

- Showing off / Signing Off

ITS OFFICIAL DOING LIFE's online SHOPPE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!!!!

- Monday, 10 September 2007

Click here http://doinglife.co.za/ and go and familiarise yourself with the look and feel. Browse to your heart's content. Remember new products will be added very frequently so make a note to pop in on a regular basis. Hope you like. Please test it out and pop me an email with any queries and/or constructive criticism or just if you feel like perhaps dishing out some praise ....

* Comprehensive kits for 12x12" (30x30cm) double page scrapbooking layouts {Incl comprehensive notes, paper, embellishments, picture of layout, template, etc.} {No fussing around for supplies and layout ideas} {Layouts incorporate a minimum of 10 photos per layout - use all those favourite photos on one layout} {One new kit each month}

* Unique Templates {The use of templates with a variety of shapes, facilitates in brainstorming layouts with a difference and utilising more photos on a layout}

* Page Planner Templates {What you see is, what you get. Use the template design as is for a pleasing well-balanced layout. No layout brainstorming required. Time saving.} See Flickers in sidebar on DOING LIFE for examples of layouts done with some of these templates.

* Light Boxes {30x30cm light boxes, fluorescent light fitting, perspex top, 3m cord and fitted plug} {Facilitates the use of templates to draw shapes on back of photos}

* Herma Adhesives {Dispensers, Refills, etc.}

* Photos of Template based Layouts

- DoingLife.co.za's Managing Director signing off

THE 'BLUE ROOM' STUDIO NOSTALGIA

- Wednesday, 5 September 2007

If these 'four walls' could speak they would conjure up memories filled with countless moments of joy, sadness, elation, sharing, seriousness, laughter, tears, embarrassment, silliness, accomplishment, damaged teeth, green mambas, Greek connections, Tote-Ally Coolness, {D}amn {F}oolness, friendships in the making and Tha Teacha spinning around the table whilst explaining, advising and demonstrating the means to a well balanced scrapbooking layout. They (i.e. the four walls) would probably also have wished for the luxury of ear plugs protecting their ears from endless banging in attempts to set that eyelet perfectly onto a precious layout.

Then there were also times where they (i.e. the four walls) had to take on the role as detectives, especially when a template or tool belonging to Tha Teacha made their way accidentally into a student's bag or tote. They did themselves proud as detectives when items from the lost property drawer met up with their owners.

But the most remarkable event was most definitely the forming of the TP (Teacher's Pet) Gang(s). Note the 's', indicating that there were quite a few such gangs being formed, the most prominent being the Thursday night TP Gang Inc (incorporating the g(r)eek connection) rivaled by the Botha's Hill TP Gang (special edition) and the Bundu Chicks TP Gang. No wonder the TP Gang Rules were formulated in a jiffy. But what these gangs did not realise, was that all Tha Teacha's students were and still remain pets in their own right.

A massive thanks to each and everyone of my students who have attended class(es) as well as scrap days I have hosted and allowed me the opportunity to share my passions with you. They say that Port Elizabeth is the friendly city, but Durbanites can definitely give the PE locals a run for their many when it comes to friendliness.

I sincerely hope that some of you will visit me in GP (Gangsters' Paradise) just to say hello or even pop in for a lesson or two. Remember - you are always welcome!

- Signing off on Secretaries Day